In his initial bid for the presidency, William Howard Taft had to fend
off charges that he was a . . . Roman Catholic. At that time in history,
the early 20th Century, it seems that a great many people in the country
could not fathom the thought that someone who was spiritually subject
to the Bishop of Rome could be a good president.

Mr. Taft loudly denied that he was a Catholic and enlisted the help of
the man that he hoped to succeed, Theodore Roosevelt, to help quell rumors
that he was a papist. The soft speaker spoke up loudly in backing up Taft,
but he also let it be known that, personally, he foresaw a day when a
Catholic might indeed occupy the White House. In fact, he also did not
consider it beyond reason that one day, in the far, far future, a person
of the Jewish faith might also hold the highest governmental office in
the land.

(As an interesting aside: while it was true that Taft himself was not
a Catholic, there was a branch of his family tree that was Catholic. In
fact, one of Taft's decedents, who is a namesake of the president's famous
son, Senator Robert Taft, is a world renowned liturgist and a mitered
Archimandrite in the Eastern Catholic Church--the Rt. Rev. Robert Taft,
S.J.)

Of course, one-half of Teddy Roosevelt's prophecy has come true. In 1960,
a Roman Catholic was elected as President. I speak, of course, about John
F. Kennedy. However, both the Republicans and the Democrats have been
much slower in selecting a Jew to head their ticket.
Barry M. Goldwater was nominated by the Republican Party in 1964. Goldwater
is plainly a Jewish name--and the name itself is derived from the Russian
Jewish name Goldwasser. However, Mr. Goldwater was raised as an Episcopalian,
and so any kosher observance that he might have kept would have been purely
on accident.

But
now America has taken one significant step forward towards having a Jewish
president. As most of the free world now knows, Al Gore has selected Senator
Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) as his running mate. Mr. Lieberman is an Orthodox
Jew. Television anchors, historians, talking heads, and political commentators
have made sure to remind us about the historical importance of the selection
of the junior Senator from Connecticut.

All of this hubbub is not without reason. This is truly a monumental
selection. The gravity of this pick stems from that fact that Mr. Gore
has chosen a serious (read: viable) person to run with him. The selection
of Sen. Lieberman cannot in any way be compared to Walter Mondale picking
Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate. Ferraro had barely served a few
terms in the House of Representatives and was clearly unqualified to be
Vice President, much less President, of the United States.

Unfortunately, in this current cloud of Politically Correct thought,
this pick means that for the next few months, the American electorate
is going to have to endure the endless hand-wringing of pundits as they
scrutinize every utterance that is directed to the Gore-Lieberman ticket.
Mark my words, if the Republicans attack Lieberman for any legitimate
reason, Democrats are going to begin to whisper to the public that the
only reason the GOP is making these attacks is because they are plaid-pants
wearing, country-clubbing, WASPy anti-Semites.

Already, I can hear how the hordes of overpaid and overweight pundits
might over analyze every jab that may be thrown Lieberman's way. "Was
this attack made because Lieberman is a Jew?" "Would an Episcopalian
have been treated to the same type of attack as Lieberman?" "By
attacking Lieberman on this [fill in the blank] issue, isn't the Republican
Party showing some strains of anti-Semitic behavior?"

Moreover, if the Gore-Lieberman ticket loses to Bush-Cheney, wait for
the reaction from the so-called mainstream media. The American electorate
will be dressed down in a painstaking examination over its motives and
alleged prejudices. Analysts will dissect the voting patterns of each
and every demographic group and report which side they came out on--in
favor of the ticket with The Jew, or against it. Of course, such sloppy
analysis can in no way reflect true motives of the voter who casts his
ballot for Bush-Cheney.

There are enough serious issues on the table this election cycle--partial
birth abortion, missile defense, Social Security, etc.--to be debated
without having to get hung up on the worship habits of one of the nominees.
Most people are concerned not about what the candidates are going to be
doing on Sunday morning (or Saturday evening, as the case may be), but
what they will do for the country. And so watch, any obsessive focus on
Mr. Lieberman's religiosity will come not from Republicans, not from conservative
think tanks, or religious columnists. Nope. It will come from members
of the "enlightened" media.

Nicholas Sanchez is host of the Free
Congress radio program "New Nation."